By Rosalind Russell – Espanola council will be asked to give its approval to the purchase of a pumper/tanker truck for the Espanola Fire Department.
Fire Chief Mike Pichor says the existing pumper/tanker (9120) is 31 years old and while it currently still
functions well, the concern is age as it is becoming more and more difficult to get parts.
He adds the other issue is there is a serious backlog of available chassis for these types of trucks, which has created wait times for the truck manufacturers of between 18 months to 30 months.
Pichor says if an order is placed in the next quarter, the town could anticipate a delivery time for the new truck in the middle of 2025 at the earliest and would allow the department to beat future price increases.
He says the current estimated purchase price is $450,000 to $500,000, which could be offset by the $300,000 in reserves and future reserves during 2024 and 2025.
The matter will be debated at the meeting this evening.
Photo: Mike Pichor, Fire Chief for Espanola Firefighters, says there is an opportunity to buy a new pumper truck in the hopes of having it delivered by 2025 at the earliest. Supply chain issues and inflation has caused a lot of problems for other departments, so Pichor will ask council to consider the purchase at tonight’s council meeting. Photo by Rosalind Russell
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